Michelle Williams on screen and stage

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Michelle Williams is gently smiling for the camera.
Williams at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con

American actress Michelle Williams' first screen appearance was at age thirteen in a 1993 episode of the television series Baywatch, and she made her film debut as the love interest of a teenage boy in Lassie (1994).[1][2] She had guest roles in the sitcoms Step by Step and Home Improvement, and played the younger version of Natasha Henstridge's character in the science fiction film Species (1995).[3][4] Greater success came to Williams when played the sexually troubled teenager Jen Lindley in the teen drama series Dawson's Creek (1998–2003).[1][3] In 1999, she made her stage debut with the Tracy Letts-written play Killer Joe.[1]

In the 2000s, Williams eschewed parts in big-budget films in favor of roles with darker themes in independent productions such as Me Without You (2001) and The Station Agent (2003).[5][6] Despite positive reviews, these films were not widely seen.[7][8] This changed in 2005 when Williams played the neglected wife of Heath Ledger's character in Brokeback Mountain, a drama about star-crossed gay lovers, which became a critical and commercial success; Williams gained a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[9][10][11] Her career did not progress much in the next few years, but Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy (2008), in which she starred as a drifter searching for her missing dog, was critically acclaimed.[7][8][12] Martin Scorsese's thriller Shutter Island (2010), starring Leonardo DiCaprio, in which Williams had a supporting part, became her most widely seen film to that point.[8][11]

Williams received two consecutive Oscar nominations for Best Actress for starring as an unhappily married woman in Blue Valentine (2010) and Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn (2011); she also won a Golden Globe Award for the latter.[13][14][15] She next played Glinda in the commercially successful fantasy feature Oz the Great and Powerful (2013).[16][17] On Broadway, she played Sally Bowles in a revival of the musical Cabaret in 2014, and a sexual abuse survivor in a revival of the play Blackbird in 2016.[18] For the latter, she gained a Tony Award for Best Actress nomination.[19] She earned another Academy Award nomination for playing a grieving mother in Manchester by the Sea (2016).[20] The 2017 musical The Greatest Showman and the 2018 superhero film Venom emerged as two of her highest-grossing releases.[8][21] She returned to television in 2019 to portray Gwen Verdon opposite Sam Rockwell's Bob Fosse in the FX miniseries Fosse/Verdon, winning a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actress.[22][23] Williams received her fifth Oscar nomination for starring as a troubled mother in Steven Spielberg's semi-autobiographical drama The Fabelmans (2022).[24]

Film[edit]

Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1994 Lassie April Porter [2]
1995 Timemaster Annie [25]
1995 Species Young Sil [26]
1997 A Thousand Acres Pammy [27]
1998 Halloween H20: 20 Years Later Molly Cartwell [28]
1999 Dick Arlene Lorenzo [29]
1999 But I'm a Cheerleader Kimberly [30]
2001 Perfume Halley [31]
2001 Me Without You Holly [6]
2001 Prozac Nation Ruby [32]
2003 The United States of Leland Julie Pollard [33]
2003 The Station Agent Emily [34]
2004 Land of Plenty Lana [35]
2004 Imaginary Heroes Penny Travis [36]
2004 A Hole in One Anna Watson [37]
2005 The Baxter Cecil Mills [38]
2005 Brokeback Mountain Alma Beers del Mar [39]
2006 The Hawk Is Dying Betty [40]
2006 The Hottest State Samantha [41]
2007 I'm Not There Coco Rivington [42]
2008 Deception S [43]
2008 Incendiary Young mother [44]
2008 Synecdoche, New York Claire [45]
2008 Wendy and Lucy Wendy Carrol [46]
2009 Mammoth Ellen Vidales [47]
2010 Blue Valentine Cindy Also executive producer [14]
2010 Shutter Island Dolores Chanal [48]
2010 Meek's Cutoff Emily Tetherow [49]
2011 My Week with Marilyn Marilyn Monroe [15]
2011 Take This Waltz Margot [50]
2013 Oz the Great and Powerful Annie / Glinda[a] [52]
2015 Suite Française Lucille Angellier [53]
2016 Manchester by the Sea Randi [54]
2016 Certain Women Gina Lewis [55]
2017 Wonderstruck Elaine [56]
2017 The Greatest Showman Charity Barnum [57]
2017 All the Money in the World Gail Harris [58]
2018 I Feel Pretty Avery LeClaire [59]
2018 Venom Anne Weying [60]
2019 After the Wedding Isabel Andersen [61]
2021 Venom: Let There Be Carnage Anne Weying [62]
2022 Showing Up Lizzie Carr [63]
2022 The Fabelmans Mitzi Fabelman [64]

Television[edit]

Key
Denotes series that have not yet been aired
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1993 Baywatch Bridget Episode: "Race Against Time: Part 1" [65]
1994 Step by Step J.J. Episode: "Something Wild" [66]
1995 Home Improvement Jessica Lutz Episode: "Wilson's Girlfriend" [67]
1995 Raising Caines Trish Caines Main role; season 1 [68]
1996 My Son Is Innocent Donna Winston Television film [69]
1997 Killing Mr. Griffin Maya Television film [70]
1998–2003 Dawson's Creek Jen Lindley Main role; 6 seasons [71]
2000 If These Walls Could Talk 2 Linda Television film [72]
2013 Cougar Town Laurie's foster sister Episode: "Blue Sunday" [73][74]
2019 Fosse/Verdon Gwen Verdon Miniseries; also executive producer [75]
TBA Dying for Sex TBA Miniseries; filming [76]

Stage[edit]

Year Title Role Venue Ref.
1999 Killer Joe Dottie SoHo Playhouse [77]
2002 Smelling a Rat Melanie-Jane Samuel Beckett Theatre [78]
2004 The Cherry Orchard Varya Williamstown Theatre Festival [79]
2014 Cabaret Sally Bowles Studio 54 [80]
2016 Blackbird Una Spencer Belasco Theatre [81]

Audiobook[edit]

Year Title Role Ref.
2023 The Woman in Me Narrator [82]

Music video[edit]

Year Title Performer(s) Album Ref.
2012 "Paradise" Wild Nothing Nocturne [83]

Discography[edit]

Soundtrack Year Song Label Ref.
My Week with Marilyn 2011 "When Love Goes Wrong, Nothin' Goes Right / Heat Wave" Sony Music [84]
"It's a Wrap, I Found a Dream"
"That Old Black Magic"
The Greatest Showman 2017 "A Million Dreams" Atlantic Records [85]
"Tightrope"
Fosse/Verdon 2019 "Razzle Dazzle" [86]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ She played a dual role in the film.[51]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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External links[edit]